Step-by-step instructions for creating GX Simulator models

An automatic pipeline routine

The ../ssw/packages/gx_simulator/demo/gx_fov2box subfolder includes a general purpose routine gx_fov2box that integrates a series of individual building block routines included in the ../ssw/packages/gx_simulator/gxbox subfolder and described its associated ../ssw/packages/gx_simulator/gxbox/demo subfolder.

The prototype of this IDL procedure is :

 

The create_box_20160220.pro routine included in the same folder calls thegx_fov2box procedure using a series of hard-coded options that, if kept unchanged, should generate the sequence of actions described below.

1. Downloading required HMI and optional AIA images

Routines called

gx_box_download_hmi_data

gx_box_download_aia_data

Required input

time -Any of the time string formats compatible with the anytim SSW function, in this example '2016-02-20 17:00:00'

Optional keyword parameters

tmp_dir=path- User defined directory in which a 'jsoc_cache' subfolder is created to store data to be downloaded from the JSOC server. If this path is not explicitly defined by the user, the operating system's temporary directory is used. If the user defined tmp_dir does not yet exist, it is automatically created.

/euv - Se this keyword to request AIA EUV (94A, 131A, 175A, 193A, 2011A, 304A, and 223A) images closest in time

/uv - Se this keyword to request AIA UV (1600A and 1700A) images closest in time

 

Running create_box_20160220.pro with its hard-coded parameters should download and save the following fits files.

 

2. Creating a GX Simulator compatible model box IDL structure

Routine called

gx_box_create

Required input parameters

center_arcsec=[x,y]- A 2-element array indicating the heliocentric coordinates in arcseconds corresponding to the center of the model box.

 

size_pix=[nx, ny, nz]- A 3-element array indicating the number of volume elements (voxels) of the extrapolation box in each Cartesian direction.

dx_km=dx_km - The voxel size in km, the same in each Cartesian direction.

Optional input or keyword parameters

/cea- Set this keyword to request Cylindrical Equal Area (CEA) projection to be used to project image data on the base of the Cartesian extrapolation box .

/top - Set tis keyword to request TOP view projection to be used to project image data on the base of the Cartesian extrapolation box .

 

out_dir=path- User defined directory in which the output models must be saved. If this path is not explicitly defined by the user, the operating system's temporary directory is used. If the user defined out_dir does not yet exist, it is automatically created.

/save_empty_box- Set this keyword to save an intermediary box structure not yet filled with any magnetic field model

/empty_box_only- Set this keyword to stop the box creation pipeline after the empty box is created. Setting this keyword automatically save the empty box, even if the /save_empty_box is not explicitly set.

_extra=_extra - The IDL _extra keyword mechanism can be used to pass any additional keywords understood by the gx_box_create routine.

Output data

The create_box_20160220.pro example should create at this stage of its execution an output file named

 

Such *NONE.sav file is a standard IDL .sav file that can be restored into a GX Simulator box structure that contains the geometrical information needed to place the model on the solar disk, the base CEA- or TOP View-projected vector magnetic field maps needed to perform potential or NLFFF extrapolations, as well as, subject of JSOC availability, the corresponding LOS HMI and user-selected AIA maps closest in time to the base magnetic field maps. The NONE filename suffix indicates that the magnetic field tags Bx , Bx, Bz are zero-filled except for the base layers from which the extrapolations are yet to be performed in the subsequent steps.

 

3. Creating a Potential field model

Output data

This stage of the model box creation pipeline replaces the field of the previously created empty box with a potential magnetic field solution obtained based on on the vertical magnetic component stored in the empty magnetic field cube.

In addition to this potential box structure, the pipeline also produces a bound box structure, which is identical with the potential box structure except for the bottom box layer, in which the Bx and By potential solutions are replaced by the observed transverse vector components. The bound box structure is to be used as an input for the next stage of the model production pipeline, as described below.

Routine called

gx_box_make_potential_field

Optional input or keyword parameters

/save_potential -Set this keyword to save the potential box structure to a default *.POT.sav file. The create_box_20160220.pro example should create at this stage a file named

 

/save_bounds - Set this keyword to to save the bound box structure to a default *BND.sav file. The create_box_20160220.pro example should create at this stage a file named

 

/potential_only - Set this keyword to stop the box creation pipeline at this point.

 

/use_potential- Set this keyword to skip the next stage of building a NLFFF model and continue with the potential box solution instead.

 

4. Creating a NLFFF field model

Routine called

gx_box_make_nlfff_wwas_field

This is an IDL wrapper to external call of Weighted Wiegelmann NLFFF Field Reconstruction Method library. The external code is specifically compiled for being used on Windows OS only, (c) Alexey G. Stupishin, Saint Petersburg State University, 2017.

The NLFFF model box is automatically saved to disk after its completion. The create_box_20160220.pro example should create at this stage a file named

 

The default .NAS.sav filename extension indicates that the file contains and IDL structure representing the output of the NLFFF reconstruction method implemented by Alexey Stupishin.

Optional keywords

/nlfff_only - Set this keyword to stop the production pipeline after this step.

5. Adding coronal heating parameters to the magnetic field model

As described bin Nita et al. 2018, the current version of the GX Simulator may add on top of the magnetic model a coronal heating model parametrized for each volume element in terms of the length L of a magnetic field intersecting it and the averaged total magnetic field B computed along such field line. At this stage of the model production pipeline, these parameters are computed for every voxel in the volume.

 

The output of this model production stage is automatically saved to a file name having the default extension .GEN.sav, which indicates that the file contains a generic magnetic and coronal model.

On a Windows system, the create_box_20160220.pro example should create at this stage a file named

 

On Linux/Unix or MAC systems the generic model is saved under the name

 

which indicates that a potential magnetic field model has been passed to this stage by skipping the NLFFF optimization stage.

Optional keywords

/save_gxm - Set this keyword to request saving the IDL box structure as an gx_model IDL object. If created, such gx_model files have the default extension .gxm, instead of the .sav extension.

 

/generic_only - Set this keyword to stop the production pipeline after this stage.

7. Adding a chromosphere model to the bottom of the coronal model

As described bin Nita et al. 2018, the bottom layers of the uniformly spaced magnetic field model,, from photosphere up to the transition region height, may be replaced by a non-uniform height chromosphere model fully determined by the input magnetic and continuum intensity maps.

The output of this final stage of the model production pipeline is saved to disk using the default CHR.sav filename extension.

On a Windows system, the create_box_20160220.pro example should create at this stage a file named

 

On Linux/Unix or MAC systems the generic model is saved under the name

 

which indicates that a potential magnetic field model has been passed to this stage by skipping the NLFFF optimization stage.